Check these sandals out.  Pretty cool.  Even cooler is that I won them!  Yes, me.  The guy who never wins anything won these through a giveaway at a blog I follow.  So, a big thanks to Jeff over at Barefoot Inclined.  I’m not going to write a review of these, just a few thoughts, but you can check out Jeff’s review here.

Let me start out by saying that I’m not a barefoot or minimalist runner, and Shamma doesn’t market these as strictly running sandals, either.  But, I have been leaning toward more basic footwear in general…shoes with less arch support, heel/toe drop and cushioning than normal.  And these are nothing if not minimalist!  So, while I couldn’t imagine wearing these for a run, I can see them getting some use just for general wear.  I have read a lot about the benefits of adding a small amount of barefoot running to your routine, so maybe I’ll try them out for some short “barefoot” sessions.

I did take them on a recent backpacking trip to wear as camp shoes, though.  They worked pretty well, but as you can see from the picture above, they aren’t very cushioned.  That’s not a ding, just a fact.  So, if you’re looking for a relaxing squishy footbed after a long day’s hike, these may not be your best bet.  I  think that these will be my go-to camp shoes for awhile, though.  They were excellent on my feet after about 10 miles of backpacking and trail running.

Check out this fashion statement at camp one evening:

I definitely liked the strapping system, they really kept the sandals in place.  I never had the feeling that they were going to fall off or even that they were getting cockeyed on my feet like I’ve had with other strap-on sandals or flip-flops.  I think I do need to spend a little more time getting the straps dialed in, though.  I got the sandals with the grippy footbed, which worked great even when they were wet and muddy.

One thing that I thought was cool about Shamma’s website is their fitting tool.  It’s an actual size printout of each size of their sandals with markings where the straps attach.  You can get a pretty accurate fitting with it.  I wear an 11.5 in most of my running shoes and ended up ordering the 11.5, which fit pretty well.  I think the 11 would have been a touch small.

Anyhow, just a quick post about the sandals.  Be sure to follow Jeff’s blog and read his review above.  Check out Shamma Sandals’ site, too.